Artemis II crew tests survival suits ahead of historic lunar flyby

Monday 06 April 2026 - 07:50

By: Dakir Madiha

Artemis II crew tests survival suits ahead of historic lunar flyby

The four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission spent their fifth day in space on Sunday conducting a full evaluation of the orange Orion Crew Survival System suits they would rely on in an emergency, as the spacecraft closed in on the Moon at roughly 60,000 miles out ahead of a historic flyby scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Mission control woke the crew at 11:50 a.m. EDT with a recording of CeeLo Green's "Working Class Heroes (Work)," followed by a message from Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke encouraging the crew to carry the Apollo legacy forward through Artemis. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen then turned to the day's primary task: a comprehensive assessment of the redesigned pressure suits worn during launch and reentry. The evaluation covered pressurization, leak checks, simulated seat ingress, and mobility testing, including the crew's ability to eat and drink through helmet ports, according to NASA.

The exercise carried added weight following an earlier cabin leak false alarm during preparations for the translunar injection burn. By Sunday afternoon, the Orion spacecraft sat approximately 218,000 miles from Earth and was approaching the Moon at around 1,592 mph, according to NASA's live mission tracker.

Orion was expected to enter the Moon's gravitational sphere of influence, the threshold at which lunar gravity becomes the dominant force acting on the spacecraft, at 12:41 a.m. EDT Monday. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday, said the mission's central objective remains validating Orion's life support systems with a crew aboard for the first time. "The primary objective at this stage of the mission is to continue collecting data from the ECLSS, the Environmental Control and Life Support System aboard Orion," Isaacman said. "This is the first time we have humans aboard the Orion spacecraft."

The six-hour lunar flyby is set to begin at 2:45 p.m. EDT Monday, when Orion's cabin windows will face the lunar surface, and continue through 9:40 p.m. EDT. During the pass, the crew will photograph surface features, including portions of the far side never directly observed by humans, under lighting conditions NASA scientists say will cast long shadows that sharpen the relief of crater rims and ridges. At 7:05 p.m. EDT Monday, the spacecraft is expected to reach a maximum distance of 252,757 miles from Earth, surpassing the record of 248,655 miles set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970. The crew will also lose contact with Earth for approximately 40 minutes as Orion passes behind the Moon. Splashdown is scheduled for Friday, April 10, off the coast of San Diego.